Hey Dr. Bob, I have been reading this forum for the past few months and now I am ready to ask a question!

Here is my problem....I was out at a bar and I saw a lady....we made out for maybe a minute of more. Now I didn't think anything of this but then I remembered that I have gingivitis.....on to the questions....

1)Making out-or french kissing is said by the CDC to have a low risk...do you agree with this?

2)Let's say this women was HIV-positive, if she had a cut or some blood in her mouth, and I had gingivitis, what are the chances I could get HIV from making out?

3)If I get tested tommorrow, it will be 88 days since kissing a woman with gingivitis. If it is negative will it be conclusive? And can I forget all about it?

4) Is there a difference between 88 days and 13 weeks? Will 88 days be ok?

Hi,

1. Yes. In fact I would state that the HIV risk of French kissing is so remote that it's essentially nonexistent, unless there are extenuating circumstances.

2. First, I should point out that is a very hypothetical question with some very significant "what ifs!" What if the weirdo was HIV positive? And what if she had a cut? And what if that cut were bleeding heavily enough for her to have a significant amount of fresh HIV-tainted blood in her mouth? And what if my gingivitis was severe enough to allow access to blood? And what if the HIV-tainted blood actually came into contact with my gingivitis? See what I mean. With all these what ifs, it's impossible to give you a statistical estimate of risk other than to say the risk would be remote at best and most likely only theoretical in nature.

3. The guidelines recommend three months and I cannot single-handedly change those guidelines for you. In reality, would your immune system really know the difference between 88 and 90 days? Most likely no; however, why not wait until day 90 just so you don't start second-guessing your negative results. (Yes, I'm extremely confident your HIV test results will indeed be negative.)

Now, since I've addressed all your questions, I have a question for you! If your contact in the bar was a "weirdo," why were you playing tonsil-hockey with her in the first place?

Thanks for your donation to the Robert James Frascino AIDS Foundation (www.concertedeffort.org). In return I'll send you my good-luck karma that your definitive three-month HIV test will be negative.

Dr. Bob